Okay, I admit it. We've been lying to you....

This is the real reason you should learn English. Honest.

(Thanks to Stuart for the link and the laugh.)

How NOT to learn English at home!

EngVid is an online video service that provides students with English instruction...and lots of help on how NOT to learn English. If you only watch one video today, make it this one.

Hey, at least he's trying...

Seen on "Alguna Pregunta Mès"...musician Mario Vaquerizo, giving English his best effort. It may not be very elaborate, but hey! At least he's trying....

The last World Cup post for today (I promise).

This video has no educational purpose at all. It's just a fun dance tune from the 2006 World Cup, and it's easy to understand the lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOZp6rgDedo

I just want to make it clear, by the way, that I'm not a really huge football fan or anything; English teachers have a nasty habit of focusing vocabulary on a particular season or event - it's simply a way of using current events (=news) to introduce new concepts. (Teacher stuff. :)

Some more World Cup fun....

For reasons that are too complicated to explain here (or, rather, I'll explain them later), most of the English as a Second Language dictionaries sold in Spain are from the UK -- Oxford, Longman and Cambridge, for example. American and Canadian students, however, typically use Merriam-Webster dictionaries, which were first published in the mid-19th century in the United States.

Merriam-Webster's website is a great place to find tons of fun information about English, and they've recently added a new feature: Ask the Editor. These videos give you short explanations (under 2 minutes) of the origins of certain words and expressions.

Here's one for you sports fans who want to know the origins of the noun "hat trick":
http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0009-hattrick.htm

Enjoy!